Facebook is reportedly planning to release a new class of bots for Messenger that will take over serving group conversations.
TechCrunch reports that the big announcement will be made at the F8 conference and that the team bots are built to update users in real time with news, such as sports scores, e-commerce deliveries, and more.
While Facebook has not officially commented on the matter, TechCrunch cites three anonymous sources familiar with the development process of the new technology. The largest social network claims that it is already working with chatbot makers as it prepares for the big day.
The company also reportedly has plans to open up APIs to allow more developers to create their own team bots.
This could be very practical in some cases. For example, a group of football fans on Messenger could add a bot to their chat that could report score changes, big moments, and other news. Another team bot could keep you and your colleagues informed about when the pizza you're waiting for for lunch will arrive.
While the bot platform has been around for about a year, Facebook hasn't really built anything significant or focused on the technology yet. With this move, the company is expected to position these team bots as news carriers rather than pretending to be a human being who can chat with you.
It remains to be seen what the new technology will actually be like when it is unveiled. Besides, we won't have to wait too long, as there are only a few weeks left until the F8 developer conference, which will take place at the San Jose Convention Center on April 18 and 19, 2017.
